Dedic Site

The DEDIC[2] or DEDIC/Sugarloaf Site is a paleo-Indian Clovis-era archaeological site in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. It encompasses an area of the Connecticut and Deerfield River valleys containing evidence of relatively large-scale human habitation dating back some 10,000 years. It is located in the general vicinity of Mount Sugarloaf. Part of it is set on the lip of a ravine, apparently a site that the natives used as a kill site, since it served as a choke point in the movements of large animals.[3] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

DEDIC Site
View of South Deerfield from Mount Sugarloaf
Nearest citySouth Deerfield, Massachusetts
NRHP reference No.80000504[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 16, 1980

The site was first identified by a survey conducted in 1978 for the Deerfield Economic Development & Industrial Corporation, a local government economic development organization. Its significance was recognized, and the site was protected by a protective covenant. Adjacent land, in private ownership, was investigated in 1995 by Dr. Richard Gramly, and was acquired by the state when it was threatened by development.[4] The site was again excavated by Dr. Gramly in 2013. This work greatly expanded the number of finds, and is of the opinion that the site is one of largest late-Clovis sites in New England.[5] It has yielded stone artifacts such as scrapers, drills, hammerstones, and a stone bead, with the source stone material coming from a variety of locations across New England.[6] One of the finds is (as of 2015) the largest known fluted lance head to be found in the northeastern United States.[3]

A display of artifacts found at the site has been established in Deerfield's Conway Street municipal building.[3]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. DEDIC: Deerfield Economic Development & Industrial Corporation - is the governmental body responsible for administering the area.
  3. "Deerfield program showcases archaeological dig at Sugarloaf site which yielded Paleolithic tool and weapon stones". Hampshire Gazette. April 30, 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  4. Chilton, Elizabeth; Ulrich, Thomas; Rinehart, Niels (Fall 2005). "A Re-examination of the Deerfield Industrial Park Survey". Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society (Volume 66, No. 2): 58–66.
  5. "Book Review: The Sugarloaf Site: A Major Fluted Point Palaeo-American Encampment by R. M. Gramly". Central States Archaeological Journal (Volume 61, No. 4). October 2014. JSTOR 43145597.
  6. "PALEOINDIAN OCCUPATION IN THE NEW ENGLAND-MARITIMES REGION: BEYOND CULTURAL ECOLOGY". Archaeology of Eastern North America (Volume 26). 1998. JSTOR 40897757.
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